Byrd pitches in right away for Red Sox

Sunday

Making his first mound appearance since the playoffs last October, Paul Byrd tosses six scoreless innings, allowing only three hits in a 7-0 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park.

He was spending the summer coaching a youth baseball team named the Georgia Roadrunners.

The only time Paul Byrd got to pitch is when he threw batting practice to the 13-and-under squad that included his son, Grayson, and when he played backyard wiffle ball with another son, Colby.

The 38-year-old Byrd was far away from the major leagues and thinking a career that began in 1995 with the New York Mets just might be over.

After going 4-2 in eight starts late last season for the Red Sox and pitching one postseason game, Byrd had decided to take the first half of the 2009 season off.

He turned down offers before spring training in order to spend more time with his family, and he hoped to get back in the game around the All-Star break.

“I had some nice offers,’’ said Byrd of last offseason. “But I dragged my kids all over the country and they’ve never been able to play on a baseball team. My family just reached that point, and I knew I had to take some time off that first part of the year.’’

When Byrd was ready to resume his major league career in July, though, the interest from teams just wasn’t there.

‘‘I couldn’t get back in,’’ he said. “That was tough because I felt I could still bring something to the table.’’

Then his last team, the Red Sox, started having problems with their starting pitching and help was needed.

Byrd was signed to a contract on Aug. 5, made four minor-league starts and was thrown into the rotation on Sunday afternoon when Tim Wakefield’s back injury flared up.

Nearly 11 months after a relief appearance in Game 3 against the Tampa Bay Rays last October, Byrd was back on the mound at Fenway Park, and it was like riding a bike.

He scattered three hits in six scoreless innings and picked up a 7-0 victory over Roy Halladay and the Toronto Blue Jays.

“I know I’ve been off for 11 months, but it felt like I’ve been doing it the whole year,’’ said Byrd, who wore a Roadrunners hat and carried the game ball to his postgame press conference.

“I was just excited to get out there, and I just wanted to help our team any way I could. I was like a kid. It was like the first time I got called up or something.

“I woke up this morning at 8 in the morning looking at the walls, nervous, just ready to go. It was a great feeling to get out there and help our team.’’

Byrd helped extend the Red Sox lead in the wild-card race to 31/2 games over the Texas Rangers and 5 games over the Rays with 32 games to go.

He figures to be back on the mound either next Friday or Saturday in Chicago against the White Sox, plugging a hole in the Red Sox rotation.

Byrd has gone from being out of the game most of the summer to being part of a team bidding for a spot in the playoffs.

“I missed competing,’’ he said. “There’s something to walking away when you don’t get the job done and you’re embarrassing yourself out there and it’s just time to hang it up.

“I felt when I walked away, I was pitching real well last year. I had a really good second half. I just needed to spend time with my family.

“I kind of learned I’m not Roger Clemens. I can’t say no in the offseason and come back whenever I want. I thought it might be over. I started coaching the (youth) team and thought, ‘This is probably it.’ Then the Red Sox called and I jumped all over it.’’

Byrd’s performance against the Blue Jays, who were swept in a three-game series, was reminiscent of what he did late last season.

The fastball isn’t overpowering, but Byrd mixes things up and does what has to be done.

“Considering the circumstances, a month ago he’s throwing BP to his kids, to give us six scoreless innings, that’s a lot of zeroes,’’ said Manager Terry Francona. “He knows how to navigate his way through the lineup.

“He gives you a little bit of everything, a little bit of this and a little bit of that. He’s not scared.’’

Byrd was a long way from the Georgia Roadrunners on Sunday, but he didn’t forget them, thanking the youth team for allowing him to stay sharp by pitching BP.

“I’ve been throwing off the mound, spinning the ball,’’ he said. “I would not have been in the shape I was in had I not been doing that.

“The kids 13 (years old) now throw around 70-75 (miles per hour), so when I was throwing to them, I was throwing about 75. I only throw 82 anyway. There wasn’t much for me to turn it up and get to where I needed to get to.’’

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